In the Virtual Bank Line

It's my wedding day. I'm marrying The Wannabe - a guy who, in real life, I dated for four years at the end of high school and the beginning of college. For some reason the plan was that The Wannabe and I would have a civil ceremony, and then an hour later have a big ceremony at my brother's house.

For the civil ceremony I wore an elaborate dress made entirely of pearls. It was heavy and uncomfortable, but looked spectacular. Right after the ceremony we went outside and while The Wannabe went and got the car, I stood on a lawn. A friend had his son's school band drive by on a big truck, playing for us. I was really happy and thought it was really sweet and thoughtful of my friend.

Then we're at my brother's house. My understanding was that we'd get there, have the ceremony, and then have dinner and the reception. But somebody else had decided differently and everyone was already sitting down to dinner when we got there. The house seemed really tiny and cramped and the people were loud. I sat down, feeling panicky because things weren't going according to plan and I wasn't sure what to do. The Wannabe had disappeared, so I couldn't ask him what was going on.

It was getting later and later, and I had a headache I couldn't shake, so I told whoever was sitting next to me that I was going into another room to lie down. I went into a room that looked like an office with a couch in it. I lay down on the couch and picked up a magazine. I paged through it and then fell asleep. The next thing I knew, my mother was kissing me good-bye. I asked her why she was leaving and she said that it was getting late and she had to be at work the next day. I was really disappointed that she wouldn't be at the wedding, but lay back down on the couch.

I woke up again and I was in bed with The Wannabe. We were both asleep, and I shook his shoulder and asked him what had happened. He said that everyone had decided just to call off the wedding.

Then I was walking down the street from an apartment building. I had moved into his apartment with him, and he was supposed to come and pick me up. His car came down the street and passed me, turning the corner in front of me. I thought that he was going to go around the corner and wait, so I ran to the corner and got there in time to see his car turning the next corner. I thought that perhaps he had just accidentally passed me and was going to go around the block and catch up with me to pick me up, so I ran all the way around the block back to the front of my apartment building. I waited and he didn't show up.

I went inside and up to the apartment which was so full of furniture that it was a wreck. I picked up my cell phone and put it into my pocket so that it would be near me in case he called. The phone rang and it was an old boyfriend. I snapped that I didn't want to talk to him but then allowed myself to be drawn into a conversation. There was a knock at the door. It was my children who had come to live with me, as my honeymoon had been cancelled. I brought them inside while still talking on the phone, following them around the apartment and trying to steer them clear of things they weren't supposed to touch. The second line on my phone rang, and I clicked over. A voice said hello, and when I said hello the voice said that I sounded stressed. I didn't recognize the voice, so I stayed noncommittal. The voice then said, "Yeah, I know how you feel. I was feeling really stressed too, until I bought this amazing new product..." I shouted into the phone that I didn't have time for this crap and clicked the phone off.

It immediately rang again and it was The Wannabe. He said that he had gone to a club where his friend's band was playing, and then he was going to a party at someone's house, and then he'd call me afterward and see if I wanted to get together. I didn't say anything, but I was just really disappointed.

And then the alarm went off, leaving me feeling very disquieted and with a pounding headache.